Josh Grizzard addresses his decision to take job with Eagles despite not getting the OC position

Now that AJ Brown is no longer the primary source of Philadelphia Eagles headlines, we can now officially talk ball.

Josh Grizzard. Remember that name? Anyhow, he interviewed for the Eagles offensive coordinator position this offseason. He was one of 17 candidates. He got a second interview. He flew to Philadelphia, met with Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman, and Nick Sirianni, and went through the entire process. Then the Eagles decided to make Sean Mannion the OC.

And then Grizzard called them back and said he still wanted to be part of it anyway. That does not happen at every organization. That does not happen at most organizations. And the fact that it happened here tells you everything about the culture that this building has built.

Eagles make Josh Grizzard their new passing game coordinator

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When reporters caught up with Grizzard at OTAs last week the question was obvious — how does it feel working alongside the guy who got the job you wanted? Is it awkward? Is there tension?

His answer was about as Philadelphia Eagles as it gets.

“Once you accept the job, you kind of know what it is,” Grizzard said. “But not awkward at all. I had always heard great things about Sean. I had never met Sean. But just working in the NFL for 10 years now, there’s enough people that I knew that knew him and listening and feeling the culture here, that if I would have thought that would have been a problem, I wouldn’t have even accepted the job. It’s been fantastic getting to know him and work with him. He’s a tireless worker. He’s ready for the opportunity so it’s been a lot of fun.”

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And then he went even further when talking about why he wanted to come to Philadelphia in the first place despite not landing the top role.

“It was a lot of fun in the interview process, really getting to know everybody in the organization,” Grizzard said. “I had worked with a couple people on staff here in the past. They just raved about the culture here. Not getting the coordinator job and then being offered the opportunity to join as a pass game coordinator, I felt like it was a great opportunity.”

He heard about the culture from people who had been here before. And that reputation alone was enough to make a guy who just got passed over for the job he wanted sign on anyway.

That is not an accident. That is what Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman have built in that building over the last several years and it deserves to be acknowledged.

No more distractions. Everyone is bought in

Here is the bigger picture that I think this story illustrates perfectly.

For the better part of the last two years the Eagles offense was a soap opera. The AJ Brown drama. The Kevin Patullo situation. The play-calling dysfunction that led to one of the most frustrating offensive performances in recent Eagles history despite having the personnel to be elite. There was noise everywhere and it affected everything.

That era is over. And what has replaced it is a completely overhauled offensive staff that based on everything we are hearing from OTAs, is completely unified and bought in from top to bottom.

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